Umbria hilltown guided tours / Orvieto

Orvieto

About an hour and a half drive from Assisi, Orvieto sits on a volcanic tufa-rock plateau, an impregnable position cleverly selected by the Etruscans, probably its first inhabitants.

After exploring the Etruscan tombs outside the city, a funicular up the tufo plateau takes you to the centro storico of Orvieto. A walk up one of the main streets takes you past the workshops of many an artisan, winding past the 13th c. municipal palace. Not far way, uncover Etruscan ruins in a medieval church and stop to visit the workshop of a famed wood-worker.

You’ll want to take in the wonders of Orvieto’s zebra-striped Gothic Duomo – and not just the famous splendid Renaissance fresco cycle of Luca Signorelli.

A masterpiece of the “international Gothic” style adorns the cathedral and 13th-century relics fascinate the visitor, as well as one of the finest existing examples of Sienese goldsmith/inlay work of the 14th -c.